A Saudi preacher who tortured his five-year-old daughter to death has been released after agreeing to pay ‘blood money’, activists said.

Lama al-Ghamdi died in October having suffered multiple injuries including a crushed skull, broken ribs and left arm, extensive bruising and burns.

The child had also been repeatedly raped and the burned.

Lama suffered multiple injuries including a crushed skull, broken ribs and back, bruising and burns. She had also been raped repeatedly

Her father Fayhan al-Ghamdi, a prominent Islamist preacher who regularly appears on television in Saudi Arabia, served only a few months in jail despite admitting having used a cane and cables to inflict the injuries.

Activists from the group Women to Drive said the preacher had doubted Lama’s virginity and had her checked up by a medic.